‘Zeus’ virus disguised as CERT email

Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Response Team is warning government agencies about a new variant of the keystroke-logging “Zeus” virus. This one comes in emails that target accounts belonging to federal, state and local government employees.

But there’s an added wrinkle: The emails are disguised to make them look like they come from U.S. CERT itself. The real U.S. CERT says the emails are coming from a botnet that’s controlled by computers in Russia.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update. For more cybersecurity news, click here.

Tom Temin is the host of The Federal Drive, which airs from 6-9 a.m. on 1500 AM in the Washington, DC region and online everywhere. Tom has 30 years experience in journalism, mostly in technology markets. Before coming to Federal News Radio, he was a long-serving editor-in-chief of Government Computer News and Washington Technology magazines.